Michigan faculty Support Muslim Students on Campus in face of Trumpian Hate-Chalking

We stand with our friends/students/colleagues and with the Central Student Government (CSG), Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs (SACUA), and Senate Assembly in condemning the recent anti- Muslim, anti-immigrant, and anti-activist chalkings on the Diag.

Whatever the political motivations of those engaged in such acts, their expressions of disrespect for members of our community can have nothing but a chilling effect on the social and intellectual life of this campus.

We want to underscore that Muslim students and colleagues are integral members of this campus community and make important contributions to the life of the institution. We thus endorse SACUA’s December resolution “to unequivocally oppose and condemn all attempts to discriminate against, marginalize, or denigrate students, faculty or staff on the basis of religious faith, national origin or ethnic belonging.”

And we call on all members of the community—students, faculty, staff, and administrators— to join in support of the right of everyone, as the CSG put it, “to be free from discrimination, persecution, and to be treated with dignity and respect by the University and the campus community.”

Finally, we want to emphasize the urgency of the situation. We call on the University administration to join with us to find more effective means of helping ensure that the objectives of establishing an inclusive and diverse campus are realized.